Today we step through a portal into the realm of virtual reality with the amazing new NOON VR Pro Headset. This incredible set, for use with compatible (that is, most) iOS and Android based smart phones (provided their display is between 4.7 and 6 inches and their operating system meets minimum requirements), is all set to change your world! With 360-degree videos and full stereo sound, as well as the ability to stream VR content directly from your computer to your smart device, the NOON VR Pro offers an an infinity of experiences right at your fingertips. Read on to discover all the amazing details of this very cool product that I’ve recently been testing. I’ll tell you about my own experience with this device and give it to you straight!

 

NOON VR Pro Headset Specs and Features

The NOON VR Pro Headset works with your existing iOS or Android based smart phone and the NOON VR App, which contains a sizeable library of experiences that you can enjoy. These are basically videos that you watch in up to 11K resolution and fully immerse yourself in. There are both standard 2 dimensional videos as well as stereoscopic 3-D experiences with quick rendering and (best of all) 360-degree videos in which you feel totally immersed.

Among the experiences you can enjoy are roller coaster and theme park rides, movie trailers, video game experiences, concerts and lectures, paragliding, various dancing and yoga videos/lessons, scary experiences (like being surrounded by zombies from The Walking Dead), scuba diving, tourism, and numerous others that cover a variety of different experiences that may or may not be possible to have in one’s real life.

A focus dial on the headset helps to sharpen the image quality of each experience to the individual strength of one’s eyesight. The focus adjustment range runs between -6.2 and +4 diopter, and the set has a field of vision/viewing that’s set at 101 degrees, which means you may not feel 100% immersed in the various experiences as it is possible to see the edges of the “screen” when using the set. This may be a minor bummer to some, but if you’re mostly looking straight ahead you tend to forget about those edges pretty quickly.

The set also has anti-blue light lenses that not only enhance the viewing experience, but also help to relieve visual fatigue and keep your eyes feeling fresh for a longer period of time. It is recommended, however, that users not go beyond 20 minutes of viewing per VR session. It’s also recommended that kids not be allowed to use the set unsupervised. This is both to protect their eyes (as kids are less likely to stop using the set after the recommended 20 minute time range) and to keep them from seeing things that they maybe shouldn’t see, such as the aforementioned zombie experience.

As for sound quality, the NOON VR Pro Headset features built-in stereo headphones that offer 118db/mW sensitivity for a very cinematic experience. The set is also extremely comfortable to wear, with a nice thick padding that covers the entire area that presses up against the user’s face. With a fully adjustable head strap and headphones that both extend in length and tilt to more comfortably cover your ears, you probably won’t be uncomfortable from wearing the set itself. It also weighs just 385 grams (with no phone attached) and therefore feels very light and not at all burdensome on one’s face or neck. Once the VR experience begins, it’s relatively easy to simply go with the flow and suspend your disbelief while enjoying whatever experience it is that you’re taking part in.

 

My Experience with the NOON VR Pro Headset

I really enjoyed using the NOON VR Pro Headset! I tried as many experiences as I could and found most of them to be really fun. I will caution users against spending too much time riding the various (at least 3 that I found) roller coasters though. I did begin to feel somewhat nauseous after a few minutes of being flung around (and even upside down) at crazy speeds for a while, so it is possible for your eyes to fool your brain (and stomach) into thinking that you’re really experiencing these rides. Other than that, my only real complaint about the set is that most of the experiences are quite short. The average length was only a couple of minutes, with the longest I tried being in the 7 minute range. It would be cool if the average time were anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes, but maybe that will come eventually.

In any case, I really couldn’t get enough of this thing and would not hesitate to pick one up myself. In fact, I probably will after while. I suspect that the NOON VR library will only continue to grow with ever more amazing experiences, and I would love to see where it all ends up. If you would like to have your own personal VR set and don’t wish to shell out possibly thousands of dollars for a full-featured setup with electrodes that attach to your body and special gloves and who knows what all else, the NOON VR Headset is quite possibly your best bet at this point in time. It’s essentially an entry level VR set that punches well above its weight class to provide fun VR experiences for users of varying interests. I certainly wasn’t disappointed!

 

Examining the Video Evidence

Please take a few brief moments to enjoy my video overview of the NOON VR Pro Headset. In it I show the device up close, sprinkle in some info about the experiences I tried, and hopefully give you a more complete picture of the fun you can have with this very impressive virtual reality headset:

Final Thoughts and Recommendation

Quite honestly, I had an absolute blast using the NOON VR Pro Headset. This thing is super cool, and an amazing value when measured against much more extensive and expensive VR systems. I don’t necessarily think that every VR experience is right for every user, but with an extensive library of options, there’s a good quantity of experiences for everyone. Be warned, however, that some VR experiences may leave you feeling just a little bit queasy or dizzy, and that overuse is definitely NOT recommended!! Although I enjoyed this set very much and would not hesitate to buy one myself, I did get tempted into overdoing it once or twice and using it past the 20 minute limit, which did seem to strain my eyes a bit. Even so, there’s a whole lot more to like about this set than to complain about, and I most definitely think it’s worth picking up!

Leonard Bond
Leo enjoys writing about everything from secret agents to tech toys and gadgets to professional hockey. Find his reviews and other product related commentary right here on the Best Buy Blog and his latest hockey rants at www.hockeycontroversial.com.

7 COMMENTS

  1. I have not been able to find a QR cardboard code for this headset. I really need one to get the best out of it. I have found instructions on how to create one, but I don’t trust myself to do it properly. This is actually something that should have been provided with the headset anyway. Could you send me a jpeg or a link to a QR code for it? It is the only headset that I have been able to use because of my vision issues. I wear lineless tri-focals, and this headset works with them.

    • It’s really cool that the Noon VR Pro works with your tri-focals. That’s pretty impressive. As for a QR cardboard code, if anyone out there knows, please chime in and let us know. Unfortunately I don’t have the answer to this one myself, but I did do a Google search to see what I could find and several different possibilities came up. If you Google “QR cardboard code for noon vr pro” you can see the results that I’m currently wading through. So far no luck, but if I find the answer I’ll post it.

    • I can’t speak from experience, but since I have the s5 and it works great with that, it should be as good or better with the s7 I would think. Hope that helps!

  2. Hi Leslie!

    That is a very interesting question. Unfortunately, it’s beyond my own experience or expertise. However, if anyone reading this is able to chime in with the answer, I hope they will let us both know. The Noon VR Pro is a really cool set that I am considering buying myself. I really enjoyed my time testing it. Hopefully you will find a solid answer and be able to enjoy your own Noon VR set!

  3. I have mono vision. One eye reads distance and the other reads close up. I have tried other drands but the set would not adjust to my eyes so all I could get was a double vision. Will this unit work for Me?

    • Hi Leslie

      I asked our VR team about your situation and they asked the manufacturer who provided this response:

      We had to look up monovision to figure this out. Unfortunately, our product won’t work for this customer as the focus control adjusts the focal point for both the eyes and we do not yet have a diopter that allows adjustments on each lens to compensate for the difference of the depth perception in each eye. Even with a diopter, my guess is that the difference between the two eyes for this customer is too big to be compensated by adjustments on a VR product that is on the market which is really meant to provide slight adjustments for most users with slight difference between the eyes.

      For customers with such condition, we only see one solution where his/her eyesight has to be corrected using contact lens or prescription lens before using VR products.

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